COVID-19 Surge Returns to US; New Variant Drives West Coast Spike

Each summer now carries a familiar undercurrent — the virus returns not as catastrophe but as persistence, finding its way through populations that have grown weary of vigilance. In 2026, a mutated strain researchers call the 'Cicada' variant is driving a new COVID-19 surge across the United States, most visibly along the West Coast, where wastewater monitoring is catching its spread before hospitals do. The tools to respond — updated vaccines, Paxlovid, Xocova — exist and are available, but the deeper question is whether a fatigued public will reach for them.